And the envelope please...

A comedy about brothers who learn they have different mothers, a cinematographer’s visual memoir, and a dialogue-less re-telling of the Virgin Mary’s holy pilgrimage were among the winning films announced Saturday at the awards ceremony for the 2016 Sarasota Film Festival at the Sarasota Opera House.

Director Anders Thomas Jensen’s “Men & Chicken,” which has been described as “Franz Kafka meets the Three Stooges,” won the Narrative

A Scene from “Men & Chicken,” the narrative prize winner at this year’s Sarasota Film Festival. (PROVIDED BY SFF)

Feature Award for his comedy about siblings on a journey to explore their lineage. Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson’s “Cameraperson,” a kaleidoscopic collage of excerpts from her previous works, took home the Documentary Feature Award. And the surrealistic “Ma,” which symbolically explores the Virgin Mary’s trek through the American Southwest in movement and interpretive dance, earned the Independent Visions award for director Celia Rowlson-Hall, who also wrote the script and plays the lead role.

“This year’s program was the biggest and quite possibly the best the festival has seen,” said Michael Dunaway, in his second year as SFF’s director of programming. “From locally produced standouts to the latest films from legendary indie auteurs, the juries and audiences this year had some difficult decisions and we couldn’t be prouder of all our awardees.”

In the Short Features category, best animated short went to “The Itching,” by Dianne Bellino; best narrative short to “Killer,” by Matt Kazman; and best documentary short to “My Aleppo,” directed by Melissa Langer.

Celia Rowson-Hall in “Ma.” (PROVIDED BY SFF)

The Audience Awards, selected by popular vote of viewers, went to Jeff Nichols’ “Midnight Special” in the narrative category, to Barbara Kopple’s “Miss Sharon Jones!” for documentary and to “Sonita,” by director Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami in the Best in World Cinema category. “The Gnomist,” directed by Sharon Liese, about a family that builds “fairy” houses in a Kansas forest to serve as a reminder for those in need of hope, won the Audience Award for Best Short Film.

For the first time, the festival also presented a Best Florida Film Audience Award, which went to “Monty Comes Back,” by Sarasota filmmaker Thomas John Nudi, about a young actor/writer faced with a choice between what is right for him and what is right by others after moving back in with his parents.

Sarasota filmmaker Thomas John Nudi’s “Monty Comes Back” won the audience award for Best Florida Film.

Festival jurors also awarded more than half a dozen special jury and outstanding performance prizes for notable aspects or exceptional acting in a number of films. The year’s “Juice” award, which is part of a program that rewards, mentors and builds a community for women directors, went to “Embers,” directed by Claire Carré, in which people with lost memories try to make sense of their place in a world of chaos.

“We are thrilled with the success of the festival this year,” said Mark Famiglio, SFF president. “We are proud to celebrate all of our attending artists and we look forward to growing in 2017.”

Carrie Seidman

Carrie Seidman has been a newspaper features writer, columnist and reviewer for 30 years...and a dancer for longer than that. She has a master's degree from Columbia University Journalism School and is a former competitive ballroom dancer. Contact her via email, or at (941) 361-4834.
Make sure to "Like" Arts Sarasota on Facebook for news and reviews of the arts.

Last modified: April 9, 2016
All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be published without permissions. Links are encouraged.